Trump dismisses extreme vetting for US gun laws

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday "there would have been no difference three days ago" in the Texas attack if the US had stricter gun control measures for gun ownership.

"If you did what you're suggesting there would have been no difference three days ago, and you might not have had that very brave person who happened to have a gun in his truck and shoot him, and hit him and neutralize him," Trump said responding to a question during a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in.

If the man who opened fire on the Texas attacker did not have a gun, “instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead,” Trump said.

Authorities say Devin Patrick Kelley, Texas attacker, fired at least 450 rounds of ammunition at worshippers in Sunday’s attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

It marks the deadliest shooting in Texas history, with victims ranging in age from 17 months to 77 years old.

On Monday, Trump said the nation was living through "dark times" but that guns were not to blame for the attack, which came just five weeks after the worst mass shooting in modern US history.

"I think that mental health is your problem here," said the US president, speaking in Tokyo as part of his Asia tour. "This was a very – based on preliminary reports – a very deranged individual."

"This isn't a guns situation," Trump insisted, calling it "a mental health problem at the highest level."